


An Unconventional Solution

by Revakah



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Eli Vanto will always find a way to Maths, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Morning Cuddles, Morning Sex, Romance, seriously this is fluff and nonsense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:26:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24528355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revakah/pseuds/Revakah
Summary: Eli wakes up in the middle of the night having had a bolt of inspiration about his current problem. Now he has to get it written down before he forgets about it. Where is his datapad, anyway?
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto
Comments: 23
Kudos: 66





	An Unconventional Solution

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by ["Good Day, Lieutenant Vanto": A Thranto Tale](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22550122) by [WantonWhale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WantonWhale/pseuds/WantonWhale). 



> Datapads are just space ipads, right? If not, they are now. 
> 
> Thanks to WantonWhale for letting me borrow a certain something from "Good Day, Lieutenant Vanto" - you'll see what in a minute.
> 
> This idea came from Discord shenanigans (as usual!)

It had been  _ weeks _ now. Long frustrating weeks of sifting through some of the most vague and unhelpful records Eli had ever seen, hours upon hours spent staring at pages and screens until his eyes ached. He had given up early the previous evening, frustrated by his lack of progress, but had awoken with a start in the middle of the night. He lay there for a moment, listening to Thrawn’s soft breathing. The Chiss was still asleep, reassuring Eli that whatever had woken him up clearly hadn’t been a threat-

**_Wait._ **

_ Of course!  _

The next step, the factor he’d been working towards for months, he could  _ see  _ it but where the hell was his datapad? Eli flailed one hand toward the bedside table, only meaning to find the light panel but- 

_ Huh. That works. _

Ignoring Thrawn’s questioning sound as he flicked the light on, Eli got to work, fighting back yawns as he quickly scribbled down his plan. Notes made, he could barely keep his eyes from closing as Thrawn guided him back down into their bed. Eli hummed happily into the soft kiss Thrawn had pressed against his lips, before a final thought occurred to him. Before he could even speak, Thrawn kissed him once again and reassured him softly that he would ensure his work was properly saved. 

*

The sight of a shirtless Thrawn first thing in the morning, still sleep-ruffled and holding a large mug of steaming  _ ch’itiseb rov  _ tea was something that never failed to make Eli’s heart skip a beat. 

Thrawn seemed particularly relaxed this morning, and something seemed different about him, the Copero sunlight casting an almost golden shimmer across his skin. He really was beautiful. 

Eli’s eyes narrowed as he realised Thrawn was smirking at him while handing over his tea and datapad. 

“What?” Eli asked, eyeing him suspiciously as he took the first sip of his tea.

“I thought you might be eager to review your work and transfer it to a more appropriate format before you send it to Admiral Ar’alani.” Thrawn told him, still looking suspiciously amused.

Eli finally got a good look at his datapad screen and nearly choked in surprise. Rather than the typed-up notes he expected-

Thrawn.

_ Naked  _ Thrawn.

His notes were there alright, picked out in gleaming gold on Thrawn’s skin, scrolling down his arms and slanted across his sculpted chest, a very interesting list of bullet points on one muscular thigh and on the other-

_ Fuck. _

Eli buried his face in his hands for one long embarrassed moment before he managed to ask, “Is that an arrow? ...Fuck, I’m  _ really  _ sorry.”

Thrawn just laughed softly before pressing a kiss to Eli’s temple and scrolling to the next image. The intricate and complex diagram that covered the expanse of Thrawn’s back was the culmination of months of painstaking work and could possibly even lead to the salvation of the Ascendancy. And...oh. Oh dear.

“Um…” Eli trailed off. What  _ could  _ he say?

“I must admit that that was something of a surprise”, Thrawn said, giving Eli a Look.

The single word (well, name) written across one ass cheek really did have a few too many unnecessary flourishes. And he’d underlined it.

**Twice.**

Eli was going to find it extremely difficult to look the Aristocra in the eye when he requested access to the Chaf archives. Maybe a written request would be sufficient? Preferably one from anyone who was not Eli Vanto.

Eli busied himself with transferring his work to a more...professional format while finishing his tea. Thrawn seemed content to simply watch him, reclining back against the pillows and rubbing slow soothing circles down Eli’s spine. Eli sent his completed work off to Ar’alani- along with a request that  _ she _ be the one to request Formbi’s assistance; before his now-empty mug and his datapad were plucked from his hands and placed very deliberately on the side table.

He only had a moment to enjoy the decidedly  _ hungry _ expression on Thrawn’s face before he was being pressed back into the pillows and kissed. Slow, deep, lazy kisses; the kind that they both loved but so rarely had time to properly enjoy. Soft touches, unhurried and gentle, the gentle warmth building slowly and inexorably into something 

Eli moaned in delight at the feeling of Thrawn pressing him down, glorying in the heat of skin against skin and the steady beat of his heart, the press of his body one that he could feel to his bones. They rocked against one another slowly, luxuriously, everything outside of their bed unimportant and so very far away. Time went away, everything went away, leaving only the two of them. Together.

Later, with Thrawn curled against his side and head pillowed against his shoulder, Eli allowed himself to drift back into a satisfied doze. They would both be called back to other duties soon enough, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Ch’itiseb rov- sweet sap (yes it is just tea with maple syrup). Try it. I did because chaos_monkey talks about maple syrup in coffee and it's actually pretty damn nice.
> 
> The gold paint/lube is the thing WantonWhale so graciously allowed me to borrow even though i provided 0 context for the request, go read GDLV if you haven't already.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! 💜


End file.
